[TIP] Using a VPN from the Google Play Store on ChromeOS

If you are a Chromebook owner who uses a VPN, you probably noticed that:

ChromeOS’s VPN Support Sucks

Setting up a OpenVPN Connection on ChromeOS Sucks

There are of course countless VPN Solutions on the Google Play Store however if you ever tried to use one of these, you will notice that the VPN appears to be functioning correctly however only traffic from other play store applications will flow through the VPN while the main ChromeOS traffic bypasses it – Potentially exposing sensitive data. I even wrote a long rant about this a few months ago. Fortunately there is a simple fix.

There is a simple flag that can be enabled in ChromeOS that will allow all traffic to be routed over a Android VPN. Here are the steps to set it up:

In a new tab on Chrome, enter “chrome://flags/” in the URL field (No Quotes)

Search for “Enable ARC VPN integration” and Enable it

Restart your ChromeOS Device

Install and Configure your VPN Client of choice from the Google Play Store

Start the VPN

At this point, all ChromeOS and Android Traffic should be running through your VPN. The only question left to ask is why isn’t this flag set to enabled by default on all ChromeOS Devices?